1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet storing apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and particularly to an image forming apparatus above which a sheet storing apparatus is disposed.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus having a sheet storing apparatus is conventionally known. The sheet storing apparatus is provided for storing a sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus body, and sheets on which an image is formed are sequentially discharged to the sheet storing apparatus. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,030 discloses an image forming apparatus having a bin moving type sorter. In the sorter, a plurality of bin trays capable of storing a sheet on which an image is formed is so provided as to be movable in a vertical direction.
However, according to the sheet storing apparatus of the image forming apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,030, the bin tray is provided in a substantially horizontal or a slightly inclined state, and sheets are sequentially laid out flat in the bin tray. Moreover, in order to improve distinguishability of the discharged sheet, the plurality of bin trays is provided in a stacked form and the bin tray used is changed depending on job discharging the sheet. Therefore, there is difference in height among the bin trays, which deteriorates visibility and removability of the sheet stored in the bin tray especially located at a low position.
Moreover, a sheet bundle discharged to the bin tray is not held in a bundle state, except for a case where the sheet bundle is stapled. Therefore, a sheet may be disordered in the bin tray due to a sheet condition (such as curl and skin friction) at the discharge, or the sheet bundle may erroneously touch another sheet bundle when removing it out of the bin tray. As a result, removability is deteriorated and trouble such as discharge error may be caused. Furthermore, the conventional sheet storing apparatus is placed on a side of the image forming apparatus, which causes a problem that a length in a width direction of a whole system including the image forming apparatus and the sheet storing apparatus is increased.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems. The present invention provides a sheet storing apparatus that holds a sheet without dropping when storing the sheet in a vertical state to improve the visibility and removability of the sheet, and an image forming apparatus having the sheet storing apparatus.